Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be welcomed in Pakistan whenever he wishes to visit, the country's High Commissioner said here today even as he noted that both sides are in touch with each other for a meeting between their foreign secretaries.
"Modi will be welcomed whenever he comes to Pakistan.... We hope the high-level visit will take place," Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said during an interaction with the media at the Press Club of India.
The Pakistani envoy termed as "good beginning" the meeting between Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in May here and said both of them struck a chord. Sharif had come here to participate in Modi's oath taking ceremony as Prime Minister.
He said Pakistan was in touch with India for a meeting between their foreign secretaries as had been decided during talks between Modi and Sharif.
"We are in touch with each other and things are moving forward," Basit said while replying to a question on the issue.
Holding that genesis of all issues stemmed from dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistani envoy expressed his government's resolve for better ties with India and said engagement without interruption will be fundamental to achieve something.
"The genesis of all disputes finds origin in the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.... We need to resolve all the issues," he said while expressing Pakistan's strong commitment to improve ties with India for stability in the region.
Noting that there was compatibility between thinking of his government and new ruling dispensation in India, he said both countries need each other to deal with major challenges like terrorism and climate change.
Asked about "delay" in trial of 26/11 attack accused and the reported threat to prosecutors handling the case, Basit refused to give a direct reply but said Pakistan was committed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Anjum have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks in India's financial capital that killed 166 people in November 2008.
